The present invention relates to closures for containers designed to dispense the contents of the container by pouring, and specifically relates to a spouted closure which is securely attached to the container, which is efficient in the dispensing and drainage of the container contents, which provides a directional and controlled flow of the contents to minimize spillage and which is designed to mask orientational defects upon assembly of the closure onto the container.
Conventional dispenser closures used for pouring the container contents often consist of three components, an inner sleeve which is friction-fit to the inside of the neck of the container, a spout portion which is normally snap-fit into the sleeve so that the spout projects vertically beyond the upper margins of the sleeve and the container neck, and a cap portion which is threaded onto the neck and may serve as a measuring cup. This type of closure is commonly used for containers of liquid household laundry detergent and related liquid products, although the closure of the present invention is not restricted to any specific type of application.
One disadvantage of conventional dispenser closures is that the provision of a separate spout and sleeve requires separate tooling for its manufacture and additional labor for the assembly of the final cap. This results in a closure which is often more complicated and costly to make than desired for disposable containers. Additionally, because of the separate tooling and manufacturing steps involved, errors in the manufacturing or assembly of conventional dispenser closures often causes misalignment or orientational differences, such as the spout being improperly aligned with respect to the handle or the container mouth. Although minor, these alignment or orientational defects may result in wasteful spillage and misdirected flow of the container contents by the user. Also, the user may attempt to compensate or correct the misalignment or orientational defects by unthreading the spout portion or by holding the container differently, resulting in further spillage. An unfortunate consequence of these problems is that the user may decide to purchase a competing brand of the product even though it is not the product itself that dissatisfies them.
Another disadvantage of conventional dispenser closures is that, after pouring a portion of the contents and returning the container to an upright position, the contents may not properly drain into the container and will remain within the closure. While most conventional closures have some provision for the drainage of excess contents of the container back into the container, it is common for excess liquid to be retained on the exterior of the neck, and in the interior of the cap, creating a slippery and messy condition and making the container unpleasant to use. Further, when the container is already empty, the design of the inner sleeve often prevents the emptying of the entire contents of the container, thus perpetually trapping a residual amount of the contents in the container. This creates a frustrating situation for the user and results in an unnecessary waste of contents. Finally, currently known available dispenser closures utilize spout and drainage configurations that are not necessarily directed at increasing the control and direction of the flow of the contents from the container to minimize wasteful and messy spillage.
Thus, there is a need for a container closure which is preassembled with a spout portion so that additional labor is not required for assembling the spout portion into the sleeve. Furthermore, there is a need for a container closure which is designed to mask orientational defects and misalignments, which insures that the user can not improperly pour the contents even when there are orientational defects in the closure and which has optimum draining capabilities so that the contents are not retained in the spout area or within the cap. Additionally, there is a need for a closure which facilitates the dispensation of the entire contents of the container and provides for increased control and direction over the flow of the contents from the container.